The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (21 October 1772 – 25 July 1834) was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan, as well as for his major prose work Biographia Literaria. Throughout his adult life, Coleridge suffered from crippling bouts of anxiety and depression; it has been speculated that he suffered from bipolar disorder, a mental disorder which was unknown during his life.[1] Coleridge chose to treat these episodes with opium, becoming an addict in the process. This addiction would affect him in the future. His poem “The rime of the Ancient Mariner” was published in 1798 in Lyrical Ballads, then revised and published in 1817 in the version that is popular today. The characters are the Ancient Mariner: Old sailor who roams from country to country to tell a strange tale.
Wedding Guest: Man on the way to a wedding reception with two other men. The mariner singles out the wedding guest to hear his tale.
Two Hundred Crewmen: Ill-fated members of the ship carrying the mariner.
Pilot: Boatman who rescues the mariner. (A pilot is an official who guides ships into and out of a harbor.)
Pilot’s Boy: Pilot’s assistant.
Hermit: Holy man who absolves the mariner and hears his story.
Albatross: Large, web-footed sea bird with a hooked bill. Most species of albatrosses wander the southern seas, from tropical regions down to Antarctica, drinking sea water and feeding on squid, cuttlefish, and other small sea creatures. Sometimes, they follow ships to feed on their garbage. Albatrosses have an astonishing ability to glide in the wind, sometimes for hours, but have difficulty staying aloft without a wind. In the latter case, they sit on the water to rest or sleep. When it is time to breed, they go ashore. An old superstition says killing an albatross brings bad luck, although sailors have been known to kill and eat them. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner has helped make
Wedding Guest: Man on the way to a wedding reception with two other men. The mariner singles out the wedding guest to hear his tale.
Two Hundred Crewmen: Ill-fated members of the ship carrying the mariner.
Pilot: Boatman who rescues the mariner. (A pilot is an official who guides ships into and out of a harbor.)
Pilot’s Boy: Pilot’s assistant.
Hermit: Holy man who absolves the mariner and hears his story.
Albatross: Large, web-footed sea bird with a hooked bill. Most species of albatrosses wander the southern seas, from tropical regions down to Antarctica, drinking sea water and feeding on squid, cuttlefish, and other small sea creatures. Sometimes, they follow ships to feed on their garbage. Albatrosses have an astonishing ability to glide in the wind, sometimes for hours, but have difficulty staying aloft without a wind. In the latter case, they sit on the water to rest or sleep. When it is time to breed, they go ashore. An old superstition says killing an albatross brings bad luck, although sailors have been known to kill and eat them. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner has helped make